Horizontal press and method of operation, especially for forming can bodies



Dec. 27, 1966 A. CLEMENTS 3,293,900

HORIZONTAL PRESS AND METHOD OF OPERATION, ESPECIALLY FOR FORMING CANBODIES Filed Jan. 2, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 TUE Bea

INVENTOR. HI-BER T CLMEIVTS BY I m T T H Dec. 27, 1966 c E Em-s3,293,900

HORIZONTAL PRESS AND METHOD OF OPERATION, ESPECIALLY FOR FORMING CANBODIES Filed Jan. 2, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 H T TOfFNE VS HORIZONTALPRESS AND METHQD OF DPERATI'Qfl! E Q SRE'CIALLY Dec. 27, 1966 FORMINGCAN-"BmD-IES Filed Jan. 2, 1964 #Sheet s-Sheet 5 m cm ugm m 9 yWIHHHHHIIHIHIHI HI! 1|HlllllllllllllIIIHH'II BY P m MA arm/ways Dec. 27,1966 A. CLEMENTS 3,293,900

HORIZONTAL PRESS AND METHOD OF OPERATION ESPECIALLY FOR FORMING CANBODIES Filed Jan. 2. 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG-5 INVENTOK BY T CLEMENTSF lG-G Mi W A? T TOEWE YS United States Patent Ohio Filed Jail. 2, 1964,Ser. No. 335,096 9 Claims. (Cl. 72456) This invention relates to pressesand is particularly concerned with a horizontal acting press and, moreparticularly still, is concerned with a novel supporting and guidingarrangement for the slide of a horizontal press.

Horizontal presses are known and, in general, comprise a press frame inwhich a slide is horizontally movable to operate dies mounted in thepress and operable to perform working operation. Satisfactory guiding ofthe slide can be accomplished by the usual flat guide members or gibs inthe press frame engaging the corners of the press slide. In other cases,however, support of this nature for the press slide does not provide thehigh degree of accuracy of guiding the press slide that is necessary forthe particular dies being operated. For example, with work membershaving extremely thin side walls, such as cans for foods or beverages,the alignment of the punch with the die is critical to maintain the samewall thickness completely around the cans being formed in the press.

With the foregoing in mind, the present invention has as a primaryobject the provision of a greatly improved guiding arrangement for theslide of a horizontal press that provides for greater accuracy ofguiding of the slide.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a guidingarrangement for the slide of a horizontal press in which the accuracy ofguiding by anti-friction bearings is obtained While the transverseloading imposed on the slide is absorbed by sliding bearing areas.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of aguiding arrangement for a horizontally movable press slide in which thesliding bearing areas associated with the slide are maintained underlight loads and thus do not Wear rapidly.

A still further object of the present invention is the provision of anarrangement, in connection with a slidably guided horizontally movablepress slide, which substantially equalizes the load on the slidingbearing surfaces that guide the slide as it reciprocates in the pressframe.

Still a further object of this invention is the provision of a rollertype supporting arrangement for a slidably supported horizontallymovable press slide which is adaptable to the support of press slides ofvarious sizes.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of anovel can forming press in which a superior product can be made.

The foregoing objects, as well as still other objects and advantages ofthe present invention, will become more apparent upon reference to thefollowing specification taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a horizontal press having thepresent invention incorporated therein and partly broken away to showoperative parts of the press;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the press;

FIGURE 3 is an end view, looking in from the right end of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a typical die used in aWork operation in the press;

FIGURE 5 is a transverse sectional view through the press, and isindicated by line 5--5 on FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a positional plan section, indicated by line 66 on FIGURE 5,and showing the manner in which the connecting rods which actuate theslide can be adjusted in length;

FIGURE 7 is a sectional view showing how an ejector mechanism can bearranged on the press slide for ejecting work pieces that have beenformed on punches carried by the slide.

Referring to the drawings somewhat more in detail, the horizontal pressembodying the present invention com prises a stationary frame 10 withinwhich a slide member 12 is horizontally movable. The slide member 12 isadapted for carrying elements 14 that cooperate with elements 16 of apunch and die set for forming can bodies from a sheet of stock 18 fedlaterally through the opening 20 in the press frame. The formed workmembers are ejected when slide 12 retracts toward the left and theejected can bodies drop on a conveyor 22 extending laterally throughanother opening 24 in the press frame.

The slide 12 has spaced connecting rods 26 connected thereto by thetransverse pivot means 23. At their ends opposite the slide 12, theconnecting rods 26 are connected to the crank pins 30 of a crankshaft 32journaled on its line bearings in the frame 10 of the press. One end ofthe crankshaft 32 carries a large drive gear 34 that meshes with apinion 36 on a transverse shaft 38 journaled in the press frame, andwhich shaft also carries a flywheel-pulley 40 over which drive belts 42are entrained. Drive belts 42 are also entrained over a pulley 44mounted on the output haft of an electric drive motor 46.

Turning now to FIGURE 5, is will be seen therein that slide 12 isslidably guided between the side walls 4 8 and 50 of press frame It bygib means extending parallel to the direction of slide movement. At thebottom of the press slide 12 are the angular elements 52 mounted on theside walls of the pres frame. The press slide at its bottom cornerscarries a rail 54 slidably engaging the top of the adjacent angular railmember 52 of the press frame. The slide also carries an elongated rail56 engaging the inwardly facing corner of the adjacent angular rail 52of the press frame. Member 56 has an inclined back wall and is adaptedfor being adjusted laterally toward and away from rail 52 by a Wedgemember 58 which bears between member 56 and the portion 69 of the slidethat forms a rigid backing up shoulder for member 58. Suitable bolts areprovided for clamping members 56 and 58 in their adjusted positions sothat the slide is confined with respect to lateral movement between theangular elements 52 mounted on the press frame side walls.

A similar arrangement is provided at the top of the press slide exceptthat the elements 62 which are mounted on the press frame side walls andwhich engage the upper corners of the slide are themselves adjustablymounted in the press frame. Elements 62 extend vertically along theinsides of the side walls 48, 50 to the tops thereof and then havelaterally extending portions 64 that overlay the tops of the side walls.Bolt means 66 are provided for moving elements 62 downwardly into properengagement with the upper corners of the press slide, while bolt means68 are provided for clamping the elements 62 in their adjustedpositions.

The aforementioned gibbing arrangement thus provides for accuratesliding support of the press slide in the press frame. The slidingbearings thus formed require the maintaining of an oil film between theinterengaging surfaces, and an oil film of this nature can be maintainedeither by a continuous supply of oil under pressure to the regionbetween the surfaces, or by mere ly supplying lubricant to the surfacesand permitting it to be dragged along as the slide reciprocates. Ineither case, some slight clearance must be permitted between thesurfaces to allow the necessary oil film to be carried therein as theslide reciprocates. Because of this slight clearance, it follows thatthe press slide can deflect slightly laterally under load, and,furthermore, since the entire weight of the press slide is carried onthe lower gibs, the tendency is for the slide to drop downwardlyslightly and the lower gib will wear more rapidly than the upper gibs.

The present invention proposes to eliminate the aforementioned tendencyfor the slide to deflect laterally or for the lower gib regions to wearmore rapidly than desired, by supporting the slide so that theaforementioned gib surfaces have mainly to absorb lateral loading on thepress slide and do not have to assume the entire guiding and supportingof the slide at all times.

The additional supporting of the slide is accomplished, in brief, byproviding the press frame with rails along the top, extending parallelto the direction of movement of the slide, and by mounting rollers onthe slide resting on the aforementioned rails. Suitable adjusting meansis provided between the rollers and the slide so that the rollerssupport the slide weight exactly, thus substantially completelyrelieving the gibs of load except upon lateral deflection of the slideduring a working operation.

The roller arrangement for supporting the slide will be seen in FIGURES1, 2, 3 and 5. The rails or tracks for the rollers are indicated 70 andmay be adjustably mounted on the upper ends of the gib members 62 as byscrews 72. An advantage of this arrangement is that the rails or tracks70 will stay in exact parallelism with the lower guiding surface of gibs62 at all times.

The rails or tracks 70 are engaged by spaced rollers 74 which arepreferably in the form of antifriction bearings and which rollers aresupported on stud members 76 fixed in a rigid pan-like frame 78 thatextends over the top of the slide from side to side of the press frame.The rollers 74 are spaced longitudinally of the slide, as will be seenin FIGURES 1 and 2, and the center of gravity of the slide, includingthe punch devices mounted thereon will be disposed in the region betweenthe longitudinally spaced rollers whereby the slide is supported withoutany tendency to tilt.

Frame 78 has sleeve elements 80 fixed thereto through which rods 82slidably extend. The rods 82 are threaded at their lower ends into thebosse 84 fixed to the top of the press slide. Rods 82 at their upperends carry the adjustable nuts 86 and bearing between washers beneaththe nuts and the upper face of small bosses on pan member 78 arecompression springs 88. Adjustment of nuts 86 is effective for causingrollers 74 to pick up exactly the weight of the slide. This can be done,for example, by placing indicators at four positions at the bottom ofthe slide as close to the slide corners as possible and thereafteradjusting nut 86 until the indicators indicate that the weight of theslide has been picked up by rollers 74. After this adjustment has beenmade, substantially the entire weight of the slide is carried by rollers74 and the tracks 70 therebeneath, and the gib arrangement has only toprovide support for the slide when it is deflected laterally by workingloads imposed thereon.

The connecting rods 26 which actuate the slide are adjustable in lengthas is disclosed in FIGURE 6 wherein it will be seen that each connectingrod includes a threaded portion 81 to which is keyed a bevel gear thatmeshes with a bevel pinion 85 on a transverse shaft 87 adapted for beingreversibly actuated by a ratchet wrench 89. Both connecting rods areadjusted simultaneously in this manner so that the stroke of the slidecan be changed when desired.

When the slide carries elements 14 in which the work pieces will beformed, it is necessary to strip the work pieces from the elements 14when the slide retracts, and this is done by a mechanism illustrated inFIGURE 7. In this figure the knock-out rods extending through theelements 14 are designated at 90. These rods are connected to across-head 92 which is engaged by arm 94 of a bell crank lever 96pivoted on shaft 98 on the press slide. Lever 96 has another arm 100that carries a roller 102 engaging one face of a cam bar 104 adjustablymounted on the press frame by the screw arrangement 106. The slide alsocarries a frame 108 in which is mounted a cam bar back-up roller 110 sothe cam bar will be supported when roller 102 rides up the incline 112of the cam bar thereby to actuate the knock-out rods 90 to eject workpieces.

It will be understood that the particular punch and die set illustratedin the drawings is merely exemplary of many types of tools that can beplaced in the press and that the present invention is concernedprincipally with the supporting and guiding of the horizontal slide sothat punch and die sets and the like requiring accurate guiding of themovable slide can be operated in the press. The can forming toolsillustrated are a particular example of tools that are particularlybenefited by the provision of a press arrangement and slide supportingarrangement of the nature disclosed herein.

FIGURE 4 shows more in detail the construction of dies for use in thepress.

Slide 12 carries the elements 14 which cooperate with elements 16 toblank out a discs from stock 18. Elements 16 include the forming punchportions 17 that form the blanked out discs in cavities 19 of elements14. Draw ring or pressure ring 21 of each element 16 is supported bypressure pins 23 that extend through bed portion 25 of the press and areconnected to conventional cushion means (not shown). The bottom of eachcavity 19 is formed by a member 91 on the end of the pertainingknock-out rod 90.

The die means are advantageously arranged as shown in FIGURE 3 along adiagonal extending across the press bed.

The press according to the present invention has closed sides, asopposed to the usual open gap type press usually employed for canpresses and is thus subject to less deflection than conventional canpresses. This feature, in combination with the feature of the guiding ofthe slide described above, results in the forming of can bodies withuniform wall thickness.

The machine can be controlled in any desired manner as, for example, byway of a control pedestal 110 connected to the press by way of a cable112. A control limit switch L.S. could also be provided driven from thecrankshaft by a chain 114 and included in the control system.

A particular benefit of the counter balance arrangement, in addition tosupporting the slide at exactly the proper position, is that the weightof the slide is lifted from the lower guide ways and this preventssqueezing out of the oil from the lower guiding ways, particularly whenthe slide is stationary. The squeezing out of the oil from thesesurfaces can result in extremely rapid wear thereof, and which wearwould probably be ununiform from one end of the guiding surfaces to theother so that compensation for the wear would be diflicult. By thearrangement of the present invention, the oil is not squeezed out fromthe guide surfaces so that as soon as the slide commences to move itwill be supported on a proper oil film at each corner.

It will be understood that this invention is susceptible to modificationin order to adapt it to different usages and conditions; andaccordingly, it is desired to comprehend such modifications within thisinvention as may fall within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a horizontal press, the improvement comprising: a press frame, apress slide in the frame, guide means in the frame for guiding andsupporting the press slide, and counter-balancing means connectedbetween the frame and the press slide for supportably counter-balancingat least a portion of the weight of said slide.

2. In a horizontal press, the improvement comprising: a press frame,horizontally extending guide means in the press frame, a slidehorizontally movable in the press frame, the slide engaging and beingsupported by the guide means, horizontal rails carried by the pressframe, a carrier movable along said rails, and resilient means connectedbetween the carrier and the slide for supportably counter-balancing atleast a portion of the weight of said slide.

3. In a horizontal press, the improvement comprising: a press frame, aslide horizontally movable in said press frame, horizontally extendingguide means in the frame engaging the corners of the slide for guidingit during its movement in the frame, horizontal rails extending alongthe top of the frame, a carriage having rollers engaging said rails, andadjustable resilient means connecting said carriage with said slide forcounter-balancing the weight of said slide whereby extremely accurateguiding of said slide by said guide means is obtained.

4. In a horizontal press, the improvement comprising: a press frame, aslide horizontally movable in said press frame, horizontally extendingguide means in the frame engaging the corners of the slide for guidingit during its movement in the frame, horizontal rails extending alongthe top of the frame, a carriage having rollers engaging said rails, andadjustable resilient means connecting said carriage with said slide forcounter-balancing the weight of said slide whereby extremely accurateguiding of said slide by said guide means is obtained, said adjustableresilient means comprising rods connected to the slide and extendingvertically upwardly through the carriage, and springs balancing betweenthe top of the carriage and the upper ends of said rods for thrustingthe rods upwardly and thereby counter-balancing weight of the saidslide, said rods having nuts threaded to the upper ends thereof toprovide adjustable abutments for said springs.

5. In a press for making can bodies, the improvement comprising: ahorizontal press, said press having sides with openings therein throughwhich strip stock is fed for being formed into can bodies by die meanscarried in the press, a slide horizontally movable in the press, gibmeans on the insides of said walls slidably engaging the corners of saidslide, rails on the top of the press parallel with said gib means, acarriage on top of the press having rollers engaging said rails, rodsconnected to the slide and extending upwardly through the carriage, nutson the upper ends of said rods, and springs balancing between the nutsand the top of the carriage to counterbalance the weight of the slideduring its horizontal movement along said gib means.

6. In a horizontal press for forming can bodies, the improvementcomprising: side frame members, openings in said side frame members foradmitting strip stock for being formed into can bodies, a slidehorizontally movable between said side members, gib means on the sidemembers slidably engaging the corners of said slide for guiding it inits horizontal movement, a bed member connected between said sidemembers, can body forming die means mounted on said slide and said bedmember operable for forming can bodies as the slide reciprocates, railson the tops of the side members parallel with said gib means, a carriagepositioned over said slide, rollers fixed to said carriage and engagingsaid rails, rods fixed to said slide and extending upwardly through saidcarriage, adjustable elements on the upper ends of said rods, andsprings balancing between the top of the carriage and the under sides ofsaid elements for counter-balancing the weight of said slide.

7. In a horizontal press for forming can bodies, the improvementcomprising: side frame members, openings in said side frame members foradmitting strip stock for being formed into can bodies, a slidehorizontally movable between said side members, gib means on the sidemembers slidably engaging the corners of said slide for guiding it inits horizontal movement, a bed member connected between said sidemembers, can body forming die means mounted on said slide and said bedmember operable for forming can bodies as the slide reciprocates, railson the tops of the side members parallel with said gib means, a carriagepositioned over said slide, rollers fixed to said carriage and engagingsaid rails, rods fixed to said slide and extending upwardly through saidcarriage, adjustable elements on the upper ends of said rods, andsprings balancing between the top of the carriage and the under side ofsaid elements for counter balancing the weight of said slide, said pressincluding a rotatable crankshaft carried by said side members at the endopposite said bed member, and adjustable connecting rods connecting saidcrankshaft with said slide.

8. In a horizontal press for forming can bodies, the improvementcomprising: side frame members, openings in said side frame members foradmitting strip stock for being formed into can bodies, a slidehorizontally movable between said side members, gib means on the sidemembers slidably engaging the corners of said slide for guiding it inits horizontal movement, a bed member connected between said sidemembers, can body forming die means mounted on said slide and said bedmember operable for forming can bodies as the slide reciprocates, railson the tops of the side members parallel with said gib means, a carriagepositioned over said slide, rollers fixed to said carriage and engagingsaid rails, rods fixed to said slide and extending upwardly through saidcarriage, adjustable elements on the upper ends of said rods, andsprings balancing between the top of the carriage and the under sides ofsaid elements for counter-balancing the weight of said slide, the canbodies being retained in the die means carried by the slide, knock-outmembers for ejecting the can bodies, and means operated by retractingmovement of said slide away from said knock-out members.

9. In a horizontal press for forming can bodies, the improvementcomprising: side frame members, openings in said side frame members foradmitting strip stock for being formed into can bodies, a slidehorizontally movable between said side members, gib means on the sidemembers slidably engaging the corners of said slide for guiding it inits horizontal movement, a bed member connected between said sidemembers, can body forming die means mounted on said slide and said bedmember operable for forming can bodies as the slide reciprocates, railson the tops of the side members parallel with said gib means, a carriagepositioned over said slide, rollers fixed to said carriage and engagingsaid rails, rods fixed to said slide and extending upwardly through saidcarriage, adjustable elements on the upper ends of said rods, andsprings balancing between the top of the carriage and the under sides ofsaid elements for counter-balancing the weight of said slide, the canbodies being retained in the die means carried by the slide, knock-outmembers for ejecting the can bodies, and means operated by retractingmovement of said slide away from said knock-out members, saidlast-mentioned means comprising a lever pivoted to the slide having onearm operatively connected with said knock-out means, and cam meansadjustably connected by said press operable for actuating said lever inresponse to retracting movement of said slide.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,715,138 5/1929Lothrop 83-613 1,844,837 2/1932 Brau-n 83-613 2,321,325 6/ 1943 Shermanet al 8 3615 2,366,426 1/ 1945 Robinson -179 3,130,623 4/1964 Nesbitt836l5 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner.

RICHARD J. HERBST, Examiner.

1. IN A HORIZONTAL PRESS, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: A PRESS FRAME, APRESS SLIDE IN THE FRAME, GUIDE MEANS IN THE FRAME FOR GUIDING ANDSUPPORTING THE PRESS SLIDE, AND COUNTER-BALANCING MEANS CONNECTEDBETWEEN THE FRAME AND THE PRESS SLIDE FOR SUPPORTABLY COUNTER-BALANCINGAT LEAST A PORTION OF THE WEIGHT OF SAID SLIDE.